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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Bob's Tuscan Bruschetta

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Several months after Bob was discharged from the army we met with a group of friends at Bughouse Square, the name locals gave to Chicago's Washington Square Park. After listening to the evenings "soapboxers" we headed to a coffee house for an evening of folk music and pizza. There were five couples with us that evening and the men had a shared service experience they rarely discussed. There was an engineer, a mathematician, 2 chemists and a pharmacist in the group. Between them they spoke 7 languages and held advanced degrees. The topic they preferred not to discuss? The army had made them all cooks and they had been together in cook's school at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Over the years it became a closed joke between them. As the wife of one of those men, I can tell you they pretty much avoided the kitchen after that. The only time Bob jumped in to help me was to make gravy. It was delicious, but he literally made a gallon of it, so, thereafter, I let him stand down. He'd occasionally roll up his sleeves to make chili, a pizza or ribs, but nothing adventurous. Then one night, in a fit of creativity, he made this Tuscan-style bruschetta. I'm here to tell you it is delicious. It is simple to do and the only trick is to make sure you serve it while it's still hot. The bruschetta can be assembled several hours before serving, but bake them off just before you want to serve them. I've found that oil-packed, sun-dried tomatoes pack quite a flavor punch and this bruschetta is the perfect place to use them. Kudos to my husband for his wonderful creation. Here's the recipe. I want you all to remember that, "no army travels far without its cooks". Even if they could have been Russian language translators or corpsmen.

Bob did a great job on these. David cooked dinner on Sunday and I had to stay out of his way and let him do his own thing. I tend to butt in when i think he is not doing something right. His meal was wonderful, so I have learned a lessson. There is more than one way to cook.

Good Morning Mary~ ~Bob's bruchetta looks wonderful and I think I will make the bean soup to go with it as you did. I have some dehydrated tomatoes in the freezer from the garden this summer. I will try soaking them in olive oil to soften and go from there. You are very inspiring and I appreciate you sharing your kitchen experiences.

Mary what a delightful and engaging story teller you are! Bob and Pete have something in common: a cook while serving and now pretty much stays out of the kitchen unless I ask for help. ;) I will print off the recipe now and can't wait... I can already taste it. Thank you. Diana

Looks simply mouth watering Mary!!! [But...literally, a gallon of gravy? Be still my heart...I could probably consume all of it in a couple of meals given to me with REAL mashed potatoes. I'm such a gravy freak, you can see it in me if you look about midway down...near the belly? LOL]

Anyway, the cranberry soap is actually a cranberry red...translucent.]

Have a super Tuesday. It's foggy here. I'm bummed, I wanted to go see if I could see some of the migrating whooping cranes today...can't see diddly squat 1 foot in front of me...maybe tomorrow!]

A gallon of gravy! Heaven! What a clever recipe! I wish my husband had some culinary skills. Alas, he relies on me. Please tell Bob that I hope to try this for my Happy Hour Fridays, at home. It's a great recipe, and I have a huge jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Love 'em!

Hi Mary, I'd like to thank you for the sweet words that you left on my site, thanks for the visit :-)And your bruschetta just came handy...my husband love bruschetta and I was searching for a recipe to make it...will definitely try it! Great pictures, they look very yummie!

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